Norway goes Digital !!

Norway will stop using FM Radio from Wednesday suggests a report which says that the country is planning to shutdown the services in favour of digital radio services. This move will make Norway the first country in the world to move away from one of the oldest form of radio broadcasting service.

FM or Frequency Modulation was first invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong. Primarily used by the military, it was widely introduced in the 1950s and has been used ever since worldwide to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio.

The city of Bodø will be the first to have its signal shut off on 11 January while the rest of the country’s signals will be shut down by the end of this year. The government of Norway decided to shift to digital radio back in 2015 as it has the capacity to provide more channels at almost one eighth of the cost. Currently the country has room for five national radio stations on its FM system which includes three public broadcasting channels, and two commercial channels. The rest of the radio stations and some regional and local stations have already made the transition to digital.

According to Digital Radio Norway’s website, “The fact that the FM network will be phased out does not mean radio silence in Norway.” The company also claims that there will be five times the amount of radio channels available. A majority of radio services will now move to DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting). Digital radio sounds clearer than FM and will be clearer in places mountains and valleys.